Aftermath
by Phoebe-B-12
Summary: oneshot.DH spoilers. Directly after the battle between Harry and Voldemort...


Harry felt the tears well in his eyes as he looked at Fred Weasley's lifeless body. It was not meant to be like this, Voldemort had been defeated, the Death Eaters vanquished, and yet Harry felt empty. He knew that sacrifices would of course have to made, but Fred Weasley? The idea had never entered his mind, and yet as he stared around him at the grieving Weasley clan he realised how naive he really had been.

"Harry?"

His name had been uttered so softly that for a moment Harry was sure he had imagined it, though as he turned to his right Hermione's tear blotched face sunk into him and he rapped his arms around her whimpering form, allowing her to soak his jacket with her tears.

"Harry, oh Harry", she moaned his name quietly as she sobbed inaudibly into his shoulder. Harry rubbed his hand through her hair, unsure of what to say.

A few more minutes passed, though to Harry it seemed like hours. Never in all his life had he felt such despair, the scene in the Great Hall was nothing but tragic. Bodies lay, sprawled in every direction, some had been placed there delicately by loved ones, and others had remained where they had fallen, either forgotten or disregarded. Mourner's littered the hall, some screaming with grief; other's standing silently by their lost one's side, trying desperately to comprehend the awful sight that befell them. Harry watched with deep angst as a woman knelt by the side of a body in the far corner of hall. A dark travelling hood covered her face from view, but Harry could make out the form of a baby in her arms, and he watched in shock as the woman delicately arranged the mangled body of Bellatrix Lestrange.

Hermione, seeming to have noticed Harry's distress, raised her head slightly, "Harry, what is it?"

"Nothing", replied Harry softly, as he tightened his grip on Hermione, his eyes still fixed on the disguised woman in the far corner.

Hermione wiped the tears from her cheeks and followed Harry's gaze to the corner of the room where she spotted the source of Harry's interest. A cloaked woman sat delicately by Bellatrix Lestrange's lifeless form, one arm was cradling a small baby and the other was affectionately stroking the dead woman's coarse black hair.

"Tonks's mother", whispered Hermione, more so to herself than Harry.

"I know", replied Harry, he released Hermione from his grasp, "Should I go?"

Hermione smiled weakly, "You're his godfather."

While she had given him no specific answer, Harry had understood exactly what she meant. He leant forward and hugged Hermione once more before walking silently through the mass of bodies and grievers, his eyes fixated on the woman who remained isolated from the immediate despair in the centre of the hall.

She seemed to have noticed his presence and as he came closer she raised her gaze, watching him with interest as he approached.

"Harry", she whispered his name and her eyes quickly darted to her grandson who lay resting in her arms.

Harry stood hesitantly glancing from the woman in front of him, to the eerily motionless body of Bellatrix Lestrange. A manic grin was still etched upon her pale features, and her grey glassy eyes lay open staring into nothingness. Whilst Harry had seen the famed Death Eater many times before, he had never quite realised the striking resemblance between her and his late godfather. Sirius, the thought still pained him greatly. The image of Sirius falling through the veil replayed vividly in his mind, and Harry turned his face away, unable to look at the woman who was responsible for his godfather's death.

"She was not always this way", stated Andromeda Tonks as she delicately closed her sister's glassy eyes,

"I'm sorry", replied Harry, he knew the insincerity in his words would be easily distinguishable, but he was unsure of what else to say.

Andromeda looked up at him. Her face was strained with tears and the dark rings around her eyes only accentuated her grief, "Don't ever apologise to me Harry, you have given me more than I could ever thank you for".

Harry offered the woman a small smile, he had not quite understood the meaning of her words, but yet he still felt compelled to offer her some sign of compassion or gratitude.

"Dora and Remus made a fine choice when they named you Teddy's godfather", she delicately patted her resting grandson's forehead before reaching out over the body of her late sister, and handing Harry the sleeping baby, "I am sorry you could not have met him under better circumstances."

Harry stood forward, and held the child to his chest. He had never cradled a baby before, and yet somehow he had known exactly what to do. Andromeda watched, a small smile spread across her shadowed face, "We're all he has left, Harry." Her voice cracked a little as she spoke and she quickly turned her attention once again to the body of her sister.

"Bella", she murmured quietly as she straightened the woman's mangled hair.

Harry cradled young Teddy carefully in his arms, closely studying his godson's face. Whilst Remus had shown him a picture of the child, he had grown much since then, and Teddy's features were now more apparent. His nose reminded Harry very much of Lupin's and a knot suddenly tightened in Harry's throat as he realised that this small child, this baby boy, would never know his parents.

As if reading his mind Andromeda spoke softly, "They knew what they were risking. They fought for Teddy; they fought to give him a better world to grow up in."

Harry nodded, and tried to fight back tears as the realisation of Tonks and Remus's death hit him. Never again would he hear Tonks's warm laugh or see her bright bubblegum hair. Lupin was lost forever; his shabby appearance and shrewd voice were now nothing more than mere memories. A tear slid down his cheek, and dropped gracefully on the forehead of his small godson. The child stirred from a moment then returned silently to his slumber, completely oblivious to the grief and despair that surrounded him.

Without thinking Harry raised his gaze and turned to Andromeda who sat staring aimlessly at Bellatrix, "She took them from you. Why are you grieving for her? Your own sister took them from you", the words had left his mouth before he had an opportunity to think them through and he paused for a brief moment trying to grasp what he had just said.

Andromeda sighed softly, "My sister did not take them from me".

Harry stared at Andromeda in disbelief, she had lost her husband, her daughter, and her son in law and yet she gave this woman, her sister no blame?

"Bella Black, my sister would never have taken them from me. Bellatrix Lestrange, the Death Eater however would have. I am not grieving for Bellatrix Lestrange, I am grieving for Bella Black, the sister I lost a long time ago."

Harry stood motionless, and watched as Andromeda kissed the forehead of the late Death Eater, "Rest in peace Bella", she muttered the words quietly as she stood.

"I'm sorry", whispered Harry as a tears began to slither slowly down Andromeda's cheeks, she turned to Harry and her godson and smiled softly "Never apologise to me Harry, you have given me more than I could ever thank you for."

She walked silently toward Harry and young Teddy, pulling him warmly into a loving embrace, "Thank you", she muttered as she lead him away from the body of her late sister, Bella Black.


End file.
